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Radio & Television

The Hoover Institution Archives hold important and extensive collections of sound recordings and moving images, with a particular emphasis on documentary and non-fiction broadcasting. Early 20th century film footage is well represented by the Herman Axelbank collection (Russian revolution) and Charles E. Stuart papers (American engineers in the USSR). The post-World War II period is represented by the vast RFE/RL Broadcast records, the BBC World Service Radio Broadcast recordings, and the Firing Line and Uncommon Knowledge television interview series. The Commonwealth Club recordings are also a valuable resource for those studying world events. Many individuals’ collections also contain recorded tapes and broadcasts, including those of Soviet and East European television during the late 1980s and early 1990s, a period of exceptional change and interest.

Artists traveling throughout Europe in the 1960s, especially American jazz musicians, often visited with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reporters. Included in this slideshow are some notable examples, including Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, and Benny Goodman, as well as many outside the American jazz scene. (The photographs of these musical ambassadors are part of the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty corporate records at the Hoover Institution Archives.)

Recently, we featured some Crusade for Freedom programs on our YouTube channel. What you don’t know is this effort fits in nicely with my last blog post. You see, the disc both programs came from is a type that would only be transferred due to a research request.<?p>

International researchers and former officials are meeting at the Hoover Institution to address the impact of Western broadcasting - especially Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) - during the Cold War.

Co-organizers:
Hoover Institution and Cold War International History Project,
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars,
with support from the Center for East European and Eurasian Studies,
Stanford University, and the Open Society Archives,
Central European University

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The opinions expressed on this website are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Hoover Institution or Stanford University.